by Erin Free
Worth: $18.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Charlotte MacInnes, Natalie Abbott, Shane Jacobson, Tara Morice, Stevie Jean, Steph Tisdell
Intro:
...a charmer with a foul mouth and a big heart situated in exactly the right place.
For a film with such a big heart and deep well of positivity, The Deb has certainly been mired in a lot of negative publicity. Considering what’s been going on behind the scenes with this rare full-blown, big screen Aussie musical, all those involved with the film – and those who see it too – will likely just be happy that it’s finally made its way to the screen.
The directorial debut from popular comic actress Rebel Wilson, The Deb is based on the stage musical by talented Aussie playwright, TV scribe (The Checkout, Growing Up Gracefully, The Chaser) and small screen director Hannah Reilly, who also wrote the side-splittingly inappropriate songs with pop singer (and How To Make Gravy co-screenwriter) Megan Washington. Brimming over with the same kind of raw, honest emotion and quirky Australiana that drove the classic Muriel’s Wedding, The Deb is certainly not as seamlessly perfect as that cinematic wonder, but it’s an enjoyable romp indeed.
Kicking off with an all-singing, all-dancing, hook-laden, expletive-jammed killer tune called, ahem, “Fuck My Life”, The Deb begins with teenaged woker-than-woke, hyper-wealthy, sex-positive nouveau feminist and social media influencer Maeve (the excellent Charlotte MacInnes) banished to the country farm of her uncle (Shane Jacobson in cracking form) when she’s expelled from her hallowed private school for a lurid piece of topless agitprop. Arriving in the small, arid town of Dunburn, Maeve is instantly thrown in amongst the hectic preparations for the isolated hamlet’s debutante ball. The stuck-up Maeve also finds a new friend in her frumpy cousin Taylah (Natalie Abbott is a revelation here, a true acting-singing dynamo who literally demands to be a star), who desperately needs a date.
There’s a slight disconnect at the heart of The Deb, but it’s far from a fatal flaw. It’s ultimately a little difficult to reconcile the bracing, foul-mouthed (and very funny) vulgarity of the film’s songs with its full-scale, sentiment-rich embracing of musical and teen-flick tropes. It’s no mean feat to be The Sound Of Music and Welcome To Woop Woop at the same time, and The Deb never really effectively bridges that yawning gap. It does, however, do a lot of things right…very, very right, in fact.
Those vulgar songs are relentless, beautifully written ear-worms of the first order (with more than a little Tim Minchin about them), and the accompanying dance sequences are wittily choreographed from start to finish. The film’s performances are equally impressive, with its young players (Stevie Jean, Costa D’Angelo, and Hal Cumpston provide terrific back-up to the aforementioned leads) and old hands (Strictly Ballroom alum Tara Morice is nearly as touching as she was in that classic, while Steph Tisdell and Rebel Wilson bring it big-time in eye-catching support) all doing top-shelf work.
The warmth and winning vibrancy that director Rebel Wilson conjures up is nothing short of delightful, and though the film’s messages about being yourself and working together to do the right thing are hardly new, they’re sold here with real gusto and commitment. The Deb is a charmer with a foul mouth and a big heart situated in exactly the right place.
